He said he'll have to do book 8 since book 4 was split into books 4 and 5. I suspsect we may even get book 9 out of him if he lives long enough.

What year is it? And what year was slavery abolished? I find your "newly freed slave" argument null and void. And it's a good thing that newly freed slaves back in the day weren't installing secondary hard drives in their PC's. Man would that hurt some feelings.

Is it sad that I was thinking the same thing? Und zis is ze sauna. Pay no mind to ze lock on ze outside of ze door.

Two local radio stations mentioned it, and an article on MSN.

I guess, but ticky tack to the extreme. I'm the master of the house, it's where I sleep. My wife is the mistress of the house, but I guarantee she won't call it the mistress bedroom due to that societal connotation.

For Game of Thrones, you have to approach it like any of the comic movies. Yes, your favorite characters may be there, but they may not have every little nuance you liked from the books. They may not follow every plotline exactly. For me, it's an exploration of what could have happened if the author had taken a different route. Besides, one of my favorite Thrones TV show characters does not even appear in the books.

I have a feeling I'll never get around to reading the GoTs books, so I'm just sitting back and loving the show, and being surprised as all hell sometimes. Sadly, I did hear one spoiler from the books (much the same way I guessed what would happen to Ned after some "innocent" commentary of book fans), but I'm looking forward to it every week.

It's funny to watch, 'cause I'm like "How is this going to take place over another 4 or 5 books? Dragons. Done."

At this point, I actually wish that I had not read the GoT books until the whole effin series was done. Especially now that GRRM is talking about publishing books 8 and 9. Case in point: as much as I thoroughly enjoyed Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series, the best thing I ever did was wait the 20 years or so that it took King to write the books. I was able to read books 1 through 7 consecutively, without having to wait the years in between. I tried doing the same with Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" but even with this being my second attempt I have hit a wall. Those stories truly are becoming unreadable to me. (And yes, that is just a personal opinion....)

And now I've got that damned Les Mis song stuck in my head.

Oh, and here I am with Whistler from Blade:



The thumbs-up was his idea, and he's not the kind of guy you say no to.

That's awesome, man. Reminds me of my pic with Scott Porter. That guy is dreamy.

I only got into GoT after the first five books were written, but still this may be painful. He writes at a snail's pace and I'm concerned that the same thing that happened with Robert Jordan will happen, he dies with the series unfinished. I have read two chapters of book 6, both posted on GRRM's website.

A couple notes on the Wheel of Time. They're what got me into fantasy fiction, so they have a soft spot in my heart. That said, Jordan is an average writer, good at best. His storylines and characters are fantastic, but the writing does get bogged down. If you can get through it all to the last three books that Brandon Sanderson wrote, they are appreciably better due to Sanderson's writing.

If you like the more medieval and magic side of fantasy fiction as opposed to sci-fi/space/technology, I have some better writers for you.

I mentioned Sanderson. His Mistborn series is good, though I preferred the standalone work Warbreaker. I hope he does more work in that world. Also, He has The Way of Kings which is the first book of the Stormlight Archive, his Wheel of Time or Song of Ice and Fire. I have not read it, but it's high on my list.

Brent Weeks is my new favorite. He's new, but his Night Angel trilogy is excellent. He also has two books of a planned tetrology called the Lightbringer series written. I'm on book one, The Black Prism, and it's good so far.

Tad Williams is decent, but more in a category with Robert Jordan in terms of writing level. I also have books from Terry Brooks, Stephen Donaldson, R.A. Salvatore, Terry Goodkind, L.E. Modesitt, and others. I have not read them yet, but they're on the list. My dad buys the books, visits once or twice a year, and gives them to me. Free literature.

Dude! That's Kris Kristofferson! The man who wrote "Me and Bobby McGee". He was one of the Highwaymen. That pic is supah sweet solid gold!!! Gratz!!!

I heard it was colds not allergies.

Well it was two days ago. Yesterday it was only mid 60s for the high...

IR, of all the names on your list the only one that I cannot read is Terry Brooks. I have yet to forgive him for writing "The Sword of Shannara" and ripping off JRR Tolkien. He has milked Shannara to death, and yet people still buy his books. I did find his "Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold" series a whole lot more enjoyable. I refuse to have any of his Shannara books in the house, however.

He was a riot to work with, and really put on one hell of a show.

Your wife beats you in the department of starstruck facial expressions, but only barely.

I would totally go see Kris Kristofferson in concert, especially at a small venue. I'm jealous, olde chum. Nice!

Context is everything. If I made that comment on the floor of the United Nations, I would be scoffed at; if I made that in the mafia forums, you are supposed to smirk, roll your eyes, and realize that the absurdity of the statement reflects the absurdity of the offense.